Elsevier sells academic and medical textbooks in print and digital formats, including online access codes and learning platforms for students. This page aggregates customer ratings and reviews to help you understand shopper experiences with their products, pricing, shipping, and customer service.
Elsevier Reviews
1.7
24 reviews
What Shoppers Say About Elsevier
Created with AI, based on recent reviews
Elsevier receives predominantly negative feedback from shoppers, with the vast majority citing serious frustrations with pricing, platform usability, and customer support. Reviewers consistently complain about extremely high textbook prices for minimal content updates, unclear inventory and shipping information that leads to unexpected delays, and support staff described as unhelpful or dismissive when issues arise. Access code problems and incomplete digital content delivery are recurring issues that leave students without promised materials.
The small portion of positive reviews praise fast and effective customer support when issues are resolved, though these experiences appear to be exceptions rather than the norm. Overall, shoppers express deep dissatisfaction with the company's business practices and service reliability, with several suggesting alternatives like Amazon offer better value and faster delivery for the same products.
Customer Reviews (24)
Sorted by: Most recentNathan C.Feb 12, 2026
Where do you even begin with how bad this company is. The platform students have to use is just awful, support is aggressively unhelpful, and the textbooks are way overpriced for books that haven't really changed in like two decades besides the edition number. It's ironic because Elsevier is actually hurting the science that gets published in their own expensive textbooks.
Brandon H.Nov 18, 2025
Really happy with how fast their support team was. Had trouble accessing my online textbook after I bought it and they got it sorted for me right away.
Victoria B.Oct 29, 2025
Got a book for school and they said during checkout that it was print-on-demand and would ship in about 10 days. After waiting the 10 days, nothing happened so I asked for an update. That's when they told me it's actually backordered and I need to wait 2 more weeks at minimum. It was never made obvious when I was ordering that they didn't have it in stock. They happily took my payment info and sent an invoice but never told me the item wasn't actually available. I checked the product page again after they told me this and there's still nothing saying it's out of stock. Super misleading site, no transparency about what's available, yet they'll take your money with no problem. Won't order from them again.
Derek S.Oct 28, 2025
I'm not sure why so many people complain, but I'm giving them 5 stars. No judgment here since I actually got solid service from them.
Katherine H.Sep 6, 2025
Absolutely awful company with awful support staff. Don't recommend them if you're looking to buy books. I got a new book with an access code but it didn't actually give me the ebook, just useless summaries and a couple practice problems. They're always apologizing but never fixing anything. Wanted to charge me another $150 for the ebook even though I already spent $150 on the new book with the access code that was supposed to include the ebook. The description and the book itself doesn't say the ebook isn't included. This whole experience was miserable. The company is full of misleading info and false advertising, and they clearly don't care. They apologize but you can tell they're not sincere. Really bad company.
Thomas F.Jun 24, 2025
Placed a pre-order for a medical textbook on their UK site back in early March to come out in May, then it got pushed to early June, and now as we're wrapping up June they have zero idea when it'll actually be available in the UK. Meanwhile Amazon has the exact same ISBN and could ship it here in 2 days. What's their excuse? Apparently they don't have one. They're a huge company but seem completely incompetent. Really disappointing.
Stephen G.Apr 26, 2025
Honestly one of the worst companies out there. They take your payment and disappear. Other people reviewing them say the same thing.
Robert K.Jan 31, 2025
Elsevier is honestly a terrible organization. They've bought out fantastic products and journals and made them completely broken with basically no support available. I'm trying to use Compete Anatomy, which is amazing software, but it won't even launch now that Elsevier owns it. Their chat support doesn't function at all and the login system is completely broken. Steer clear if you possibly can.
Elsevier Review FAQ
What is Elsevier's average rating on RetailCoupons.com?
Elsevier is rated 1.7 out of 5 based on 24 customer reviews. The rating distribution is heavily skewed toward one-star reviews, with 83 percent of ratings at the lowest level.
What do reviewers praise about Elsevier?
A small number of reviewers report positive experiences with Elsevier's customer support team, noting fast response times and helpful resolution of access and technical issues. A few shoppers indicate they received good service overall.
What are the most common complaints about Elsevier?
The primary complaints involve extremely high textbook prices, lack of meaningful content updates between editions, unclear inventory status at checkout, unexpected shipping delays (especially for print-on-demand items), inadequate or unhelpful customer support, and incomplete digital content delivery when purchasing access codes. Reviewers also report that the same textbooks are often available faster and cheaper through competitors like Amazon.
Do shoppers recommend buying from Elsevier?
Based on review feedback, most shoppers explicitly discourage others from purchasing from Elsevier. Only a small minority of reviewers indicate satisfaction with the company. Many suggest exploring alternative sources for textbooks.
How can I write a review for Elsevier on RetailCoupons.com?
You can submit a review by visiting the Elsevier store page and selecting the review submission option. Share your honest experience with pricing, shipping, product quality, digital access, and customer service to help other shoppers make informed decisions.